Basic guide to retrenchments
The new minimum wage for farm workers came into effect on 1 March. While most farmers will do their utmost to hold onto their current workforce, some will have no...
Food on the table, money in the bank
Community non-profit organisation, Letsha la Eleroi, farms on a small scale to provide fresh vegetables to the sick and the elderly. Project chairperson Beauty Tsokunyane tells Peter Mashala how the...
Rethinking energy dependence
With huge increases in Eskom tariffs, more and more farmers are investing in alternative energy solutions. Mike Burgess visited Eastern Cape farmer Luke Bell to learn more about his KRE...
Growing profit in the ‘fifth quarter’
Multi-national financial services provider, Rabobank, says the value of the so-called fifth quarter has increased significantly in recent years, making meat processors more competitive. Albert Vernooij, of Rabobank’s Food &...
Sugar industry in SA faces bitter challenges ahead
South Africa’s R12 billion a year sugar industry may be one of the world’s leading cost-competitive producers of high quality sugar, but it is currently beset by challenges. Trix Trikam,...
Health programme benefits employees
A number of illness-related deaths and low productivity in the workforce spurred poultry producer Astral to implement a wellness programme that reduced fatal illnesses and significantly improved overall health and...
Eastern Cape berry project shows great promise
Amathole Berries near Stutterheim expects to yield 3 000t of blueberries per season by 2020. Mike Burgess spoke to acting CEO Ryan Davies about the company’s challenges and its place...
So, corruption is in our ‘culture’, is it?
The ANC’s attempt to justify and even, it seems, encourage dodgy dealings is an affront to Africans.
Getting the basics right: courses in hands-on skills
Major agricultural products supplier, Dicla Farm & Seed, recently established a training centre near Tarlton, north-west of Johannesburg, to equip new small-scale farmers and farm workers with practical skills and...
The key to running a top broiler business
Sound management and investing in human resources has brought Gilbert Phalafala swift success.
A ‘soft’ revolution in dried tree fruit
Dried fruit company, At Source Handmade Foods, was founded in 2002 and just over a decade later it is one of the three largest local dried tree fruit businesses, capturing...
GFNC’s Macadamia Market expansion
SA’s biggest macadamia processor, Green Farms Nut Company, has entered into a joint venture with its Australian counterparts to become the world’s largest macadamia marketing company.
Value-adding in the eastern Free State
Agribusiness VKB has stabilised the Free State grain market by establishing a chicken broiler project and building a state-of-the-art chicken abattoir in Reitz. Sas Kasselman of Grain Fields Chickens says...
Spreading the Christmas spirit for 60 years
The Christmas Fair Fund was started in Stanger by a group of young farmers’ wives 60 years ago – and the organisation has brought hope and upliftment to the region...
The pick of Porcini
Big timber companies may not consider porcini mushrooms to be worth much effort, but an Italian mushroom picker has made a meaty business out of this gourmet food. Robyn Joubert...
Training tomorrow’s farmers today
The closure of many agricultural colleges has left a skills shortage in rural communities. Nutritionist Perseverance Madoda started Thuto-ya-Sechaba training centre to fill the gap. Peter Mashala reports.
Romac rolls with the times
A father and daughter team from Zimbabwe bought a hydroponic farm and packhouse in Ballito in 2008. They positioned their business for growth by embracing government’s desire to advance black...
Teach farming skills before it’s too late!
Too few SA youngsters are interested in agriculture as a career. Puso Segoe feels this is due to farmers failing to expose their children to farming from an early age....
Tobacco farming – the growers’ view
New proposals from the World Health Organisation’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control to regulate international tobacco farming have raised concerns among Africa’s tobacco growers and processors. Francois van der Merwe,...
Orchids of Eden
Duckitt Nurseries was initially built on passion and four orchid species, but it is now the biggest cut flower and Cymbidium orchid farm in South Africa with a few hundred...
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